Captain Harper and his crew were flying in the lead position of the second box of the formation bombing Neuweid, Germany when their B26 received a direct hit from anti aircraft fire, burst into flames and crashed. No parachutes were observed by other crews, but Sgt Howard Mote was later reported as a POW, the rest of the crew were killed.

The following United States War Office Official Training Film 1-3301 How to Fly the B-26 Airplane was for pilots who had to fly what unofficially became known as the “Widowmaker”. Note that the lead character says

I have lots of pictures of Stu Ottenheimer and the crew. My Dad was T/Sgt James Kelley that was killed that day on Nov 21 1944. Stu and my parents traveled from Barksdale together to Kellogg field before Boreham England. In touch with Harper, Harrison and Pegenos family. Would love to hear from anyone.

My Mother was married to 1st Lt. Paul Stephens, Navigator with your father that fateful day. I would love to see any pictures of the crew or whatever you have. My email address is ddlischer at gmail. Thank you Kathleen Kelley Adams.

Dear Kathleen,
My grandfather was Joseph L Hart, gunner/engineer with the 394th/584th. He would never talked or wrote memoirs about his experience before passing. I’m currently trying to research his career and wondered if you may have any photos that identify him. We would love to have copies.

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flyingpenguin, a security consultancy, designs and assesses risk mitigation, compliance and response solutions, as well as delivers strategic and competitive knowledge to security software and hardware vendors. Innovation, integrity and transparency are hallmarks of our services. Davi Ottenheimer, President of flyingpenguin, has more than twenty years’ experience managing global security operations and assessments, including a […]more →